The present invention relates to a bearing for a spring strut of a motor vehicle on the vehicle body by way of a spring plate which holds an elastic support and on which a coil spring is supported.
German Patent Document DE-36 20 774 A1 shows a spring strut wherein a coil spring is supported by means of a rubber-elastic receiving device on a spring plate held on the vehicle body side. The elasticities via the support differ because of the clearances to the spring plate, resulting in a tendency of the spring to dent.
It is an object of the invention to provide a bearing for a spring strut which provides an optimal guiding of the spring while the likelihood of denting is decreased.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by providing that an elastic support has a supporting surface that is adapted to the pitch of the spring, and the support is held by means of a distance element on a spring plate on the vehicle body side. The distance plate is developed such that, at least in the supporting area of the spring in the elastic support, an identical wall thickness and therefore an identical elasticity is formed. As a result, denting of the coil spring during the springing operation is largely avoided.
For this purpose, the elastic support has a supporting surface which is sloped in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the spring strut. Opposite this supporting surface is a parallel contact surface which is formed either of cams in the distance element or by a continuous surface of another construction of the distance element.
In each case, the distance element is constructed in such a manner that an identical elasticity develops in each case on the elastic support in the area of the support of the spring. The cams on the distance element contribute to the stiffness.
The spring supporting surface is set corresponding to the pitch of the spring coil so that the spring has no contacting spring walls in the end area. In contrast, the bearing surface of the distance element is aligned at a right angle with respect to the spring strut axis so that a wedge-shaped distance element and a wedge-shaped support are obtained.
The distance element having a rigid part and light plastic part may consist of a ring or may be interrupted in the area of a springy bridge member in the elastic support so that its spring action is not impaired. For the purpose of a height compensation, several distance elements may also be provided.
During a springing operation, the springy bridge member must ensure the contact of the spring coil on the spring support surface. In addition, the spring end is supported over an angle of approximately 270.degree..
When the distance element is developed as a disk with a continuous contact surface or bearing surface, the elastic support is constructed with a correspondingly continuous support bottom surface. In order to reduce weight, the distance element may be constructed with circularly extending grooves in one of the surfaces, which may also take place in the case of a distance element comprising cams.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.